Water heating – leaking hot water cylinder

Causes

Faulty plumbing connection

Corroded cylinder

Listed under: water heating, hot water cylinders, plumbing, Services, durability, corrosion

Cause

Faulty plumbing connection

Repair

  • call a licensed plumber. If the connection was installed or worked on recently, call the same plumber back to make the repair

  • homeowners are very limited in the work they can carry out in their own homes. In particular, homeowners cannot work on sanitary fixtures (including toilets, baths, showers, sinks, basins or laundry tubs) or water pipes supplying sanitary fixtures or waste pipes connected to sanitary fixtures

  • even where homeowners can lawfully carry out work themselves, they should only do this if they have the skills, experience and tools to be able to safely and competently complete the job. The work must be carried out “in a workmanlike manner” and in compliance with all the relevant laws and codes

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Cause

Corroded cylinder

Repair

  • call a licensed plumber to replace the hot water cylinder

  • you can find useful information about water heating systems on the BRANZ Level website and on the government’s Gen Less website

  • you can find a list here of electric storage water heaters that comply with New Zealand Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). These performance standards are mandatory under Building Code Acceptable Solution H1/AS1

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